Pussy Riot File Lawsuit Against Russia

The saga of Russian femme-punks Pussy Riot, and their tumultuous relationship with the nation’s government, has taken yet another turn.

As reported by The Guardian, two of the band’s members, Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, are now filing a lawsuit against the country in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) over their 2012 imprisonment following a protest at a cathedral in Moscow.

The pair, who received amnesty late last year after an almost two-year stint behind bars, are seeking €120,000 (about $171,500) apiece in compensation for their trouble – which they plan on donating to human-rights causes – as well as a further €10,000 to cover court costs, saying that the process of their prosecution and imprisonment was a violation of rights and tantamount to torture.

"They didn't get [a] fair trial here in Russia, so they want to get it finally in the European court of human rights," Pavel Chikov, the head of human-rights legal group and Pussy Riot defenders Agora, told The Guardian.

"Plus, they want this case to set a precedent that Russians can speak publicly on sensitive political issues, even if this speech is not supported by majority. This is a case about freedom of expression and fair trial first of all."

"People saw them in a glass cage all the time next to police dogs, and the whole thing proved to everyone that they were guilty before they were found guilty by the court," Chikov continued.

"The practice in Russia where people are put in glass or metal cages in the courtroom has nothing to do with a fair trial and violates the presumption of innocence."

The government has previously made its position known with regard to the Pussy Riot controversy, filing a 35-page report in June that claims the musicians’ ongoing complaints are “obviously unfounded”.

“Deliberately provocative behaviour in a place that is dedicated to the spiritual needs of believers and is a symbol of the Russian Orthodox community clearly undermines tolerance and cannot be seen as a normal, sincere exercise of the rights of the convention,” the report said.

Pussy Riot are scheduled to speak at Australia’s Festival Of Dangerous Ideas next month. A documentary about their struggles against the Kremlin, Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer, was released last year (before they were). Check out the trailer below.